Grex Music3 Conference

Item 179: Help me figure out the meaning...

Entered by eprom on Sun Apr 18 05:12:42 2004:

The Dangling Conversation
P. Simon, 1966
It's a still life water color
Of a now late afternoon
As the sun shines through the curtain lace
And shadows wash the room
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
The borders of our lives

And you read your Emily Dickinson
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what we've lost
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm
Couplets out of rhyme
In syncopated time
And the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
Are the borders of our lives

Yes, we speak of things that matter
With words that must be said
"Can analysis be worthwhile?"
"Is the theater really dead?"
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow
I cannot feel your hand
You're a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
In the borders of our lives
12 responses total.
#1 of 12 by eprom on Sun Apr 18 05:13:50 2004:

Ok...I was listening to this on CD and it sounds really deep and meaningful.
Problem is, I don't know what exactly it's suppose to mean.

#2 of 12 by cmcgee on Sun Apr 18 15:12:44 2004:

Intellectual angst and ennuie.

#3 of 12 by mcnally on Sun Apr 18 19:32:01 2004:

  I've always taken it as a fairly straightforward portrait of a 
  pair of disaffected intellectuals whose engagement in each other's
  lives has faded.  Must there be another level?

#4 of 12 by cyklone on Sun Apr 18 20:27:04 2004:

Ditto. I had pretty much reached the same conclusion as McNally when I first
heard the song in 7th grade. It seemed pretty straightforward to me then and
still does now.

#5 of 12 by eprom on Sun Apr 18 22:09:40 2004:

oh. reading it over again, I guess that makes sense.

#6 of 12 by gelinas on Mon Apr 19 00:37:23 2004:

But I do like the images.

#7 of 12 by remmers on Mon Apr 19 11:37:16 2004:

If all they're reading is Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, no wonder
they're bored stiff.  They should read some authors who *really* know
how to write, like Tom Clancy and Clive Barker.

#8 of 12 by logik on Sun May 2 01:02:11 2004:

ummm... Remmers, buddy... are you comparing two great classic authors 
like Robert Frost and Emily Dickenson to two great modern authors like 
Clancy and Barker? Kinda apples and oranges, no? 

Anyway, its a great picture, well painted, although I have never heard 
it... Dark, lonely and brooding though...

#9 of 12 by twenex on Sun May 2 01:05:14 2004:

Dostoyevsky and Tolkien "really know how to write".

#10 of 12 by remmers on Mon May 3 12:21:31 2004:

Re #8: I neglected to append a smiley face to #7.

(And I've never actually read Clancy or Barker, so I can't say
if they're great writers or not, although I kinda doubt it...)

#11 of 12 by twenex on Mon May 3 14:26:26 2004:

Heh. Clancy is entertaining, though I dunno if you could put him in the
league of "great writers". Closest to that amongst the spying/military
shenanigans genre is John Le Carre, if his reputation is deserved.

#12 of 12 by eprom on Wed Jun 16 21:34:30 2004:

I found a site "http://songfacts.com/" which people discuss songs, the
background and sometimes reveal hidden meanings (ZZ Top - Pearl Necklace)

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